MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Five takeaways:

1. Useful research has shown that connections forged among different groups of people—what social scientists call “bridging social capital”—reliably enhance peace, prosperity, and social progress. Yet, we often group with those most like us.
2. Diversity in a friend group can focus on any number of factors but can come down to cultivating a friend group with specific viewpoints, experiences, and perspectives.
3. Management researchers have long found that diversity of ideas and ideology leads to better, more creative business outcomes. There are similar outcomes for one’s social life.
4. Here are three tips for jumpstarting the diversity of perspective in your own social sphere:
   • Talk to strangers: While only talking to trusted friends may seem safe, strangers are often more than happy to share their perspectives, and to hear yours.
   • Become a social scientist: Be curious and solicit the views of others in a friendly way. Tactfully ask questions that may expose a healthy difference of opinion.
   • Celebrate heresy: A rewarding social circle will discuss ideas far outside their comfort zone, politically, philosophically, and morally without fear of recrimination.
5. Ideological and intellectual diversity will make social interaction much more thrilling.

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
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Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.

Four takeaways:

One’s quality of life as they get older should be viewed through a holistic lens– happiness, health, and emotional wholeness. This article provides four habits that help us retain those qualities into our later years. These habits are:

1. Exercise for the body and brain: physical activity has been shown to help stave off the shrinking of the hippocampus that is natural with aging. Strength training also combats age-related muscle loss.
2. Strive for mental fitness: From “find my friends” to reading books to practicing a hobby to meditation, even 10 minutes of mental exercise a day can help rewire the brain to be stronger and more agile.
3. Stay social: social connection has been tied by study after study to enhance emotional/mental health and reduce the risk of premature death. The U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory this year warning of the nation’s loneliness epidemic.
4. Develop good sleep hygiene: sleep becomes more difficult with age, and many seniors find themselves going to bed later and rising earlier. A strong sleep routine can not only help maintain alertness and cognition but to avoid the long-term risks of poor sleep: depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

From Kristine Gill for Fortune
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Six takeaways:

Admitting you’re wrong and fessing up to your mistakes fosters open and honest communications, which allow trust to be built and respect to be warranted. Here are six steps to doing it right:

1. Apologize: A meaningful apology can dispel negative feeling and move the conversation towards next steps. What other people care about is your impact, not your intent.
2. Take accountability: Show that you understand your error, without shying away from it. Be clear in showing them you will avoid making the mistake again.
3. Act fast: Acting quickly on a mistake demonstrates humility, honesty, and personal responsibility. Issues arise when individuals and teams engage in secrecy or cover up instances or occurrences that would look poor on them.
4. Offer a solution: do not simply declare ownership of your mistake, show it by preparing a recovery plan and executing it as soon as possible.
5. Understand why you made the mistake and learn from it: Reflect on the mistake. Have you been overworked, or disengaged? Address the personal or systemic reasons for the error.
6. Don’t be too hard on yourself — mistakes happen!: Self-demonization only delays or obscures the more productive learnings that allow us to learn from and build upon these mistakes.

From Kate Dagher for Fellow
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Five takeaways:

1. Apologizing is not easy: a poorly executed apology can actually exacerbate an existing issue. Be ready to apologize in a way that is most likely to solve the problem you created.
2. Apologize productively: While an expression of regret is a good start, research shows that the acceptance of an apology is most effectively guaranteed by a tangible offer of repair for harm done, and an explanation of what went wrong.
3. Apologizing is less costly and more beneficial than you think: research shows that we tend to overestimate the cost and underestimate the benefit of apologizing.
4. Take full responsibility: be bold in self-attributing your own errors, because a begrudging or half-hearted apology is easily detected and will undermine the intention completely.
5. Use contrition as a self-improvement practice: life progresses step by step, and our characteristics are adaptable. Recognizing our errors and expressing regret not only strengthens our resolve but also propels us towards continuous self-betterment.

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
Read the whole story.

Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.